Wednesday Tipp-Off: $3,000 FanDuel Slam Picks
Wednesday Tipp-Off
$3,000 FanDuel Slam Tourney Picks, Lineups and Injuries
It‘s Wednesday and that means the $3000 NBA Slam Tournament is on tonight at Fanduel. I have previewed the games and tried to pick out some low priced, high upside picks from each game to build your roster around. Large field tournaments require some gambles, so hopefully these low priced players will payoff huge and allow you to have enough salary to go with some studs at your other positions. Good luck tonight!
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Golden State @ Atlanta (OFF)
GSW Probable: Curry, Ellis, Wright, Lee
ATL Probable: Bibby, Johnson, Williams, J. Smith, Horford
Tourney Pick: Stephen Curry ($6600). Curry is returning from an ankle injury and he’s just priced way too low on Fanduel. He’s got an excellent matchup against the weak defense of Mike Bibby and should be able to post a nice line.
Al Horford has been dealing with a hand injury, so check his status. He’s still a good play against a Warriors team who will probably be without their starting center, Andris Biedrins. Josh Smith, Monta Ellis and Joe Johnson are good plays in what should be a high scoring game.
Indiana @ Washington -2.5 (Total 195)
IND Probable: Collison, Rush, Granger, McRoberts, Hibbert
WAS Probable: Wall, Hinrich, Lewis, Blatche, McGee
Tourney Pick: John Wall ($5500). He’s still coming off the bench, but at $5500 he’s just too cheap to pass up. Wall got 27 minutes last game and put up 25 fantasy points. He’s definitely a bargain if he can score a fantasy point per minute of action.
I’ve been playing Nick Young as a sleeper, but the return of Wall has decreased his value just a bit. Rashard Lewis is off to a good start with the Wizards, but he’s still getting acclimated to the team and could be risky. Granger might have some problems with the perimeter defense of Lewis. Andray Blatche could have a good game. Rush is a decent defender, so Hinrich might be kept in check. Indiana is on the second of a back to back.
Cleveland @ Charlotte (OFF)
CLE Probable: Mo Williams, Gibson, Parker, Jamison, Varejao
CHA Probable: Augustin, Henderson, Jackson, Diaw, Mohammed
Tourney Pick: Daniel Gibson ($5900). Gibson has moved into the starting lineup and has been getting about 35 minutes a game over his last 5. He did miss Sunday with the flu, but he was back in action last night and had a good game.
Paul Silas is now coaching the Bobcats and has decided to go uptempo, which really helps the fantasy value of all Bobcat players. If Gerald Wallace is out, Charlotte will lean heavily on Stephen Jackson and D.J. Augustin, making them attractive plays. Mo Williams has been heating up lately. Antawn Jamison suffered a knee bruise last night, so check his status. If Jamison can’t go, J.J. Hickson could be a nice play. Cleveland is on the second of a back to back.
Boston -6.5 @ Detroit (Total 186.5)
BOS Probable: Robinson, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Shaq
DET Probable: Stuckey, Gordon, Prince, Villanueva, Wallace
Tourney Pick: Shaquille O’Neal ($5400). There are several tourney picks in this one, but O’Neal is probably the best against an aging Ben Wallace. I’d probably go with Ben Gordon ($5700) and/or Charlie Villanueva ($6500) as my pick here against anyone but the Celtics, but their defense is just so solid that they could shut them both down.
Rajon Rondo is probably going to miss this one, so Nate Robinson should get another start. Nate really hasn’t done much with the starting job and this doesn’t really look like a spot where he’ll suddenly produce. Tayshaun Prince has a good defensive game and could give Paul Pierce some problems. Ray Allen could do some damage in this one. Boston is on the second of a back to back.
LA Lakers -3 @ New Orleans (Total 190)
LAL Probable: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Odom, Gasol
NOR Probable: Paul, Belinelli, Ariza, West, Okafor
Tourney Pick: Marcus Thornton ($4800). This is a very weak pick, but it’s about all I could come up with in this game. Just about every other player is a high priced salary option and this game overall just isn’t an attractive fantasy situation. This could be a blowout with Thornton getting some garbage time. If you want to play it a little safer, Marco Belinelli ($5100) is only $300 more and he’s at least guaranteed to start.
This is just a bad matchup for all the Hornet players except Chris Paul. He’s the only New Orleans player I’d consider here. Pau Gasol should have a good game against the poor defense of Emeka Okafor. Trevor Ariza will probably get assigned to Kobe, which could be a tough matchup for Bryant. Andrew Bynum is a possibility if you need a cheap center. The Lakers are on the second of a back to back.
Denver -2.5 @ Minnesota (Total 224)
DEN Probable: Billups, Afflalo, Smith, Williams/Anderson, Nene
MIN Probable: Flynn/Ridnour, W. Johnson, Beasley, Love, Milicic
Tourney Pick: J.R. Smith ($6300). This tourney pick depends on whether Carmelo Anthony suits up for the Nuggets. Rotoworld currently reports that Melo will not play Wednesday. Chauncey Billups ($6500) could be a nice value pick as well with Anthony out.
Darko Milicic has been dealing with an injury and might miss this one. Al Harrington and Kenyon Martin are both out for the Nuggets. Put those things together and it probably means a big game from Kevin Love. Michael Beasley could have a good game with Carmelo out. If Milicic misses, Nene might be able to have a decent game. The Nuggets are on the second of a back to back.
New Jersey @ Oklahoma City (OFF)
NJN Probable: Harris, Farmar, Outlaw, Humphries, Lopez
OKC Probable: Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Green, Krstic/Collison/Ibaka
Tourney Pick: Kris Humphries ($6200). Humphries has been a great value pick for about a month now and there’s no sense in turning away from him now. He’s definitely got some size on Jeff Green and should rebound well in this one. Jordan Farmar ($5500) gets a mention here and could get more run in place of Anthony Morrow.
Russell Westbrook suffered an arm injury Monday, so check his game time status. If Westbrook is out or limited, then Kevin Durant becomes a much more attractive option since the Thunder will expect him to do most of the scoring. Brook Lopez should have a good game against the three headed disaster that OKC has at center. Devin Harris also becomes a good play if Westbrook is out.
Miami -5 @ Houston (Total 198.5)
MIA Probable: Arroyo, Wade, James, Bosh, Ilgauskas
HOU Probable: Lowery/Brooks, Martin, Battier, Scola, Hayes
Tourney Pick: Aaron Brooks ($4600). This is definitely one of those high risk, high reward picks. Brooks should take over the starting PG spot soon, but Lowery is still in the mix and Brooks might be limited to around 25 minutes tonight. He got 22 minutes Monday and put up 23 fantasy points, jacking 15 shot attempts, so the potential for a big night is there and the salary is very cheap.
This game has blowout written all over it, so be careful wasting big salary on the big three from Miami. It might be wise to go the other way and play Kevin Martin and Luis Scola hoping that this one is never really close, but not quite a blowout, and they both get garbage time stats. The Heat are on the second of a back to back.
Philadelphia @ Phoenix (OFF)
PHI Probable: Holiday, Meeks, T. Young, Brand, Hawes
PHO Probable: Nash, Dudley, Hill, Frye, Lopez/Gortat
Tourney Pick: Thaddeus Young ($6300). This game is loaded with potential tourney picks, but Young could be the best if Andre Iguodala misses his second consecutive game with his Achilles injury. Check the game time status for Iguodala before using Young. If Iguodala plays, then look to the other side of the ball and Jared Dudley ($5600). Vince Carter is probably out and Dudley has been doing a great job filling in. Dudley has scored 6, 33 and 27 points in his last three and definitely has the potential to go off here.
Memphis -4 @ Sacramento (Total 195)
MEM Probable: Conley, Young/Henry/Mayo, Gay, Randolph, Gasol
SAC Probable: Udrih, Evans, Casspi, Landry, Dalembert
Tourney Pick: Samuel Dalembert ($5700). DeMarcus Cousins is deep in the doghouse and Dalembert has moved back into the starting center spot for the Kings. He’s managed to get about 30 minutes in each of his last two games and should get that again tonight.
Mike Conley is dealing with a cut on his hand which might limit him, so be careful. The shooting guard spot is a mess for the Grizz and it looks like Xavier Henry might be out for this one. Sam Young got the start last game, but you have to think that Mayo really needs to be starting if Henry is out. Just a risky situation. Zach Randolph should put up a big double-double, while Gay will definitely get his points. There has been some rumor of Tyreke Evans shutting it down to have surgery on his foot, so make it a habit to always check his game time status.
Utah -2.5 @ LA Clippers (Total 194.5)
UTA Probable: D. Williams, Bell, Miles, Millsap, Jefferson
LAC Probable: Davis, Gordon, Gomes, Griffin, Jordan
Tourney Pick: Baron Davis ($5800). Davis is really starting to turn it on and he’s well worth the $5800 salary. C.J. Miles ($6200) is also a nice tourney pick if Andrei Kirilenko is forced to miss this one.
Deron Williams suffered an injury in his last game, so check his game time status. Andrei Kirilenko is dealing with a back problem and could miss, which leaves the door open for C.J. Miles to see big minutes. Raja Bell could make life difficult for Eric Gordon. There’s not much hope of Paul Millsap slowing down Blake Griffin. Al Jefferson could have a decent game against DeAndre Jordan.
Good luck tonight and be sure to keep an eye on the newswire.
About the Writer: Allen “Tippy” Tippy operates Fantasy Basketball Daily where he covers the day-to-day fantasy NBA scene for season long and daily league players. He’s been participating in Daily Fantasy Sports since 2007 across all of the major sites; concentrating mostly on the NBA. He’s a huge Alabama Crimson Tide fan, Chicago Cubs fan and an avid poker player. Tippy day-trades the S&P 500 Futures market and foreign currency markets for a living. He lives in West Virginia with his wife and seven year old daughter.